The SuNian
by phatalbert21
Summary: Second in my Enterprise series & sequal to my 1st story: To Boldly Go... Hoshi gets to experience the big chair, Enterprise experience's her first battle, a new species is encountered and the Romulan problem, deepens. T'Pol/Hoshi


**Intro: **Second story in my Star Trek series, there's a scene I took directly from ENT: Sleeping Dogs. I thought it fit nicely into the story and I hope you do as well. If you haven't read: _To Boldly Go..._, I suggest you do or some of this story won't make sense. Thank you to all who read my first story and I hope you'll continue to read my work. This story place's Captain Hunter into a larger role but not to the point where he is eclipsing Hoshi and T'Pol, they still are the main focus of the story. The conflict Hunter mentions is World War III if you want to find out more about it check out: (it's like the ultimate source guide for cannon and Trek lore.)

**Warning/Disclaimer: **This is femmeslash (but you probably knew that if you clicked to read this) so if you don't want to read about women that love women, STOP right now and turn back. If you are still here I'd like to state that I don't own the Star Trek Franchise, (I think it would be cool if I did though :p) and no infringement is implied or intended so don't sue me. However with the notable exception of Hoshi and T'Pol everyone else is my property to do with as I please (that includes the Su-Nian) so please don't steal or copy them without my permission, same goes with this story.

**Thanks: **Once again I wanna give a HUGE thank you to Ilovesara801 for taking time out her very busy schedule to beta for me, and just like last time she worked her magic and turned my scribbles into the story you see before you. Also for all those that took the time to leave me a comment an extra thank you to y'all, I enjoyed hearing what you thought about my story.

_**The Su-Nian**_

_By: Phatalbert21_

_Captain's Log, May 15__th__, 2166: Enterprise has been away from Earth for one month today, the ships galley officer and head cook Reily wishes to throw a party in celebration of the occasion. Considering that we are less than twenty four hours from the Neutral Zone and our main objective, I told him to hold off on the celebration until we finish what we came to do. Over the past month I can say that thus far I am extremely satisfied with my crew, discipline and conduct are in excellent shape and morale is high. My senior staff is well put together and competent: Commander T'Pol has lived up to the standard of excellence she has been known for, and a great deal of the crews level of morale and conduct is affected by their shifts and assignments which are completely at her discretion, so much of the credit for the smooth running of the ship belongs to her. 'My pet project' has already paid dividends, confirming my suspicions that Hoshi has much untapped potential in the command arena in fact I wouldn't be surprised if she was wearing the four bars of a captain one day. Lieutenant Khan continues to show growth especially in-_

Captain Hunter was interrupted from his log by the ring of the door chime at his ready room's door, he swiveled his chair around and called out, "Enter." The door slid back and admitted Commander T'Pol, who was carrying an armful of data pads. Hunter let out a groan at the sight, his First Officer plus that many data pads could mean only one thing: department reports.

One of his more unpleasant duties as captain was that once a month he had to chart the progress and issues his crew had in the form of department reports, in essence they were like report cards and he had 109 of them to do (T'Pol would do his.)

"Good morning Captain," Greeted T'Pol and he swore he detected a hint of amusement in her voice; but of course as she was Vulcan that was impossible.

"Are you sure those are due today?" Hunter asked hopefully, knowing full well that they were.

T'Pol merely raised an eyebrow and placed the pads on Hunter's desk. Hunter shook his head and grumbled something unintelligible before straightening up in his chair. "Can I offer you a drink Commander?"

T'Pol as usual declined, and as Hunter took a swallow from his cup he thought that one day she was going to shock the hell out of him and actually accept a beverage. T'Pol watched patiently as Hunter made a show of refilling his cup and straightening various items on his desk until he could stall no longer.

"Fine, let's get started" he huffed.

_They should tell command candidates being a captain is about ten percent giving out orders and blowing stuff up and ninety percent administrating. Then again if they told people the truth no one in their right mind would want to be a starship captain,_ Hunter thought grumpily.

It was slow going, and by the time lunch rolled around they were about halfway through with the pile which Hunter could have sworn was adding to itself. He put down the pad he was working on and stretched his stiff neck.

"Okay T'Pol, it's time for a lunch break, why don't you go grab something and I'll work on these until you get back then we can switch."

Only a few years ago T'Pol would have discarded such an invitation, citing that she didn't need a break and could work for several more hours. However due in large part to her relationship with Hoshi she took regular lunch breaks, if for no other reason than to spend them with her _t'hy'la_.

About one month ago T'Pol and her former shipmate, Hoshi Sato had been reunited after a five year separation when they had both unknowingly accepted postings to _Enterprise_. After encountering each other T'Pol had become aware of Hoshi's attraction to her; an attraction that she herself shared and nurtured for the dynamic young woman. Reluctant to start another relationship with a crew mate, T'Pol had tried to discourage any type of romantic relationship with Hoshi, however Hoshi was not one to lay back and take things as they were so she had (after decimating T'Pol's reasons for not wanting to be with her) persuaded the Vulcan to give a relationship with her a chance. It was shortly after their relationship embarked that T'Pol had a dream that seemed to indicate that she and Hoshi were _t'hy'la,_ or soul mates.

Being with Hoshi had made T'Pol feel less restricted with her emotions, and as such she was experiencing love on a whole new level, she had yet to tell Hoshi she loved her but she was sure Hoshi knew how she felt. It was dangerous for T'Pol's emotional repression to relax even a little, but if it meant she got to experience and bask in the love Hoshi felt for her, she was willing to accept the risk the danger presented.

So, agreeing with Hunter's proposal, she left the ready room, but as she scanned the bridge she saw Hoshi wasn't there. Instead Lieutenant Khan was sitting in the command chair, which indicated Hoshi had left for lunch and given him the bridge, probably figuring T'Pol would be to busy with department reports to take a lunch break .

She turned and headed to the turbolift and rode it down to deck six and the mess hall, stopping only briefly to talk to an ensign from biometrics who wanted to change her duty shift from alpha to beta.

Stepping through the double doors she was bombarded by the noise of forty or so officers laughing, talking and generally having a good time. It was overwhelming; and one of the reason's she didn't frequent the mess hall very often. One of the stewards she didn't recognize stepped forward and greeted her.

"Good Afternoon Commander, can I interest you in the meatloaf, it's scrumptious!"

T'Pol like most Vulcan's, was a vegetarian and the idea of consuming 'meatloaf' made her stomach feel queasy, and killed any visage of an appetite she had.

"No thank you crewman, however you can tell me have you seen Commander Sato?"

The steward's face scrunched as he thought for a moment. "Yeah, she was in here about fifteen minutes ago, she got some food to go; but she didn't seem interested in the meatloaf either." He finished and shook his head as if to indicate neither T'Pol nor Hoshi knew what they were missing.

T'Pol resisted the urge to roll her eyes, which was surprisingly strong; instead she thanked the man and took her leave. Before the doors closed behind her she heard him trying to peddle his meatloaf onto another crewmember that seemed equally uninterested.

At this point T'Pol could have opened her communicator and inquired to Hoshi's whereabouts, but a small part of her was enjoying tracking her down, although if asked she would deny it. She had seen Hoshi eat lunch in only four locations: the mess hall, her quarters, T'Pol's quarters and the observation deck. She had already eliminated the mess hall, and it was highly unlikely that Hoshi would be in T'Pol's quarters; which left only two locations. Of the two, she thought it more likely that Hoshi would be on the observation deck, she had stated several times that she enjoyed that part of the ship but oftentimes didn't have enough time to go spend there. So she headed back to the turbolift and took it up to deck three.

She stepped into the large room and immediately spotted Hoshi, whose back was to her. T'Pol felt a sense of calm and affection wash over her at the sight of Hoshi and she walked over and took a seat next to her _t'hy'la_.

Hoshi, who was gazing out one of the Plexiglas windows looked up in surprise and once she saw who it was her face broke into a small smile. "Hi sweetheart, I was just about to leave."

"It is a good thing that I arrived when I did then."

"Yeah it is, I thought you'd be busy all during lunch so I decided to come eat in here." Hoshi said as she turned her gaze back to the stars streaking by.

Hoshi's posture was tense and her left foot was tapping, probably without her knowledge.

"What is wrong?"

Hoshi's head snapped up. "Why do you think something is wrong?"

T'Pol resisted the urge to sigh; this was almost an exact recreation of what had happened the night she and Hoshi had decided to elevate their relationship with physical intimacy. Nonetheless she would go down this path again if she had too. "Your left foot is tapping, your shoulders are hunched you are..."

And exactly like last time Hoshi interrupted her. "Damn it T'Pol, I hate it when you do that."

The Vulcan didn't bother responding and just waited for Hoshi to talk.

"Okay, this is kind of embarrassing but... I'm sort of worried about you leaving tomorrow." Hoshi said quietly.

T'Pol raised an eyebrow "Why? This is not a dangerous away mission, in fact I would say given the parameters that this mission will pose little to no danger."

Hoshi worried her uniform sleeve. "I know but... I would feel better if I could come too."

"It would be unwise to have the three senior most officers not present on _Enterprise_ in the event something was to happen not to mention all the contractors speak English so your services as a translator wouldn't be required."

"I know but if something _does_ happen I want to be with you." said Hoshi.

T'Pol moved closer to Hoshi. "I appreciate the sentiment, however when we began our relationship we both agreed not to let it impact our professional lives, there are times when I will go on missions you will be unable to accompany me on and vice versa. Some off them will undoubtedly be dangerous however this is not one of those times, I believe this is a case of 'picking your spots'."

Hoshi smiled. "Okay, you made your point; I'll try not to worry unless the situation warrants it." She leaned her head on her partners shoulder and threaded her hand within the Vulcan's.

Normally Vulcans were against public displays of affection and especially in such an open place as the observation deck, however given the situation; T'Pol was willing to let Hoshi have this moment.

After all that was one of the main things that made relationships work: compromise.

It was a small gesture on T'Pol's part and it only lasted maybe a minute but it had the desired effect and as they prepared to report back to duty Hoshi was back to her evanescent self.

T'Pol made it back to the ready room in time to see Captain Hunter peppering the air with profanity: evidently someone in engineering had decided to overhaul the memory banks and all of their hard work had accidentally been deleted. She raised an eyebrow at some of the more innovative curses, noting to ask Hoshi about them at the next avaliable opportunity. She also thought it fairly wise for a certain Chief Engineer to avoid the captain for the foreseeable future.

_7:00 am, May 16th, 2166_

_Enterprise_ was currently at station keeping on the border of the Neutral Zone. With Captain Hunter and Commander T'Pol currently in negotiations with the construction teams, Hoshi was sitting in 'the big chair' as the acting captain and despite her worrying about T'Pol she was rather enjoying herself. The rest of the bridge crew were manning their posts and everything was quiet, until Lieutenant Khan's board began to beep.

His voice was terse. "Commander, I'm detecting multiple weapon signatures half a million kilometers into the Neutral Zone."

Hoshi immediately sat straighter a feeling of dread washed over her. "Romulans?" she prayed it wasn't.

Khan shook his head "Negative, the weapons are Nausicaan and there are four cruisers, they seem to be attacking a ship of unknown origin."

Hoshi frowned, Nausicaan's were a wandering species that tended to concern themselves with being pirates or raiders, and they attacked small ships and stole their supplies. But they tended to conjugate near the Orion sector which was a _long_ way from their present location.

Before she could say anything Ensign Cooke, her replacement at communications turned around, a panicked expression on her face.

"Commander, the unknown vessel has sent out a distress call!"

Hoshi felt a sick feeling in her stomach, in order to offer aid to the other ship they'd have to cross the Neutral Zone, which was considered an act of war against the Romulan Star Empire. On the other hand she couldn't just ignore a call for help and let people die. Her duty as a Starfleet officer demanded she preserve the ideals and integrity of the Federation which didn't include possibly dragging it into another war to save a few dozen people, not to mention putting _Enterprise_ at risk if their were cloaked Romulan vessels and this was a trap to lure them into the Neutral Zone. However her innate compassion wouldn't allow her to turn her back on others in need, especially when she was able to do something about it.

The two sides battled back and forth, but in the end Hoshi knew what was right and what she had to do.

No matter how much she didn't want to.

She closed her eyes and gave the order in a low voice. "Ensign Cooke, ignore the distress call, Ms. Jacobs move us back five thousand kilometers."

There was a shocked air around the bridge. Ensign Jacobs actually turned around in her seat. "But ma'am..."

Hoshi's eyes snapped open, anger clearly defined on her face. "I gave you an order, _Ensign_. Don't make me relieve you."

Jacobs' eyes widened and she quickly uttered "Yes ma'am." Before she turned around and moved _Enterprise _back.

Hoshi could feel the bridge staring at her, judging her...blaming her; unable to stand it she stood up abruptly. "Lieutenant Khan, the bridge is yours." Not waiting to see if he acknowledged her or not she quickly strode into the ready room and sealed the door behind her.

As soon as the door was locked, she slid down to the floor and began to cry, knowing she was a coward. She was the worst type of person… she had ordered the death of that ship just as surely as if she had fired a photon torpedo at them, and she didn't even have enough courage to see the result of her orders. Instead she ran away and broke down; gradually her sadness morphed into anger. Anger at Starfleet's policies, at Captain Hunter for leaving her to deal with the situation, at T'Pol for not being here to help her and mostly at herself for having to give that goddamn order. She was sure that by now news of the incident had spread to the whole ship; she didn't want to deal with people's judgment so she was quite happy to stay where she was.

Unfortunately, the others weren't.

Lieutenant Khan's voice came over the ready room speakers. "Commander Sato, we've detected an escape pod about to cross the Neutral Zone."

As much as she wanted to ignore him she couldn't. "Understood, I'm on my way." Standing up she straightened her uniform before marching out straight backed onto the bridge. "Report." Her voice was hard and seemed to echo around the bridge.

"The unknown vessel was destroyed as were all the escape pods except one, the Nausicaan cruisers then went to warp and left." said Khan

"Why destroy all the pods but one?" Lieutenant Tanner asked from the science station.

Hoshi answered. "Probably so someone could tell people what happened here, or it's what the Nausicaan's wanted." She turned to Tanner. "How many life signs are on the pod?"

"Three, they are all in critical condition."

Hoshi's heart ached painfully, but her face remained impassive as she began giving out orders. "Ms. Jacobs, move us as close to the Neutral Zone border as you can. Ensign Cooke, hail them and let them know help is coming. The second we are close enough transport them aboard and tractor the pod into the launch bay."

She reached over and opened a channel to sickbay. "Sato to Dr. Sveck, gather a medical team and report to the transporter immediately. We are bringing alien casualties onboard."

"Understood, Sveck out."

Pausing for a moment, she took a breath then opened a channel to Engineering. "Sato to LaForge; Commander, I need you to get a repair and analysis team together and report to the launch bay. We are bringing an escape pod onboard; please download any information or anything that can help us identify our guests. Then see if anything can be done to repair the vessel."

"Gotcha Hoshi, LaForge out."

A few minutes later Tanner spoke up. "Transport in progress, transport complete. Doctor Sveck reports they have the casualties and are en-route to sickbay. The escape pod is now in the launch bay."

"Lieutenant Khan, the bridge is yours; I'll be in sick bay. Good job everyone." She stepped into the turbolift and as soon as the doors closed she rested her head against the wall and closed her eyes. She was trying not to be crushed underneath the weight of the guilt, she was feeling. _It's my fault that they all died, and if anymore die that'll be my fault too. _Casting around her mind desperately Hoshi came upon a memory she held dear, a time over ten years ago when she had been in the galley of the Klingon ship with T'Pol during one of her first away missions.

_Her eyes were drawn to an ornate silver bowl on one of the tables; curiosity getting the best of her she picked it up. _

_T'Pol's voice came from her right. "It's called gagh. It's a Klingon delicacy, but only when it's alive."_

_Hoshi looked at the bowl closer, her stomach turning. "They look like worms."_

_"They are worms," Was the reply she got._

_Deciding that she had enough of...gagh, Hoshi next came across a pot of what looked like stew. Using the ladle she sifted through it and saw a rather large skull, but before she could ask T'Pol what the dish was called she heard a scraping noise. _

_Glancing at the Sub-Commander, they both brought their phase pistols to bear and approached the sound which was emanating from behind a door. Hoshi's adrenaline was pumping as T'Pol threw the door open wide to reveal...three pig like animals with spines on their bodies. _

_T'Pol shut the door. "Targs; Klingons prefer their food freshly slaughtered. Are you all right?" She asked, noticing Hoshi had sat down abruptly on an empty container._

_The adrenaline was still pumping through Hoshi and she felt a mixture of relief that they hadn't encountered a Klingon and shame that she had gotten so worked up about nothing. Unbidden she felt tears start to sting her eyes and she blinked furiously to hold them back. She looked up at T'Pol who was examining her with concern, or rather the closest thing a Vulcan could approximate to concern. _

_"I told myself I wouldn't do this." she said shakily._

_T'Pol looked at her keenly "You are in a dangerous situation in an alien environment. Your anxiety is understandable."_

_Hoshi, pushed by fear and anger, glared at the Sub-Commander. "Understandable for a human, you mean!" she snapped at the Vulcan._

_T'Pol looked nonplused and said simply. "You can not deny your nature."_

_Feeling ashamed of her outburst, Hoshi looked at the older woman. "This may sound strange, but I envy you sometimes. I know another pesky Human emotion, but there are times I wish I could just ignore my feelings." She swallowed around the lump in her throat before continuing, "I wish I could bury my feelings the way Vulcans do."_

_T'Pol seemed to gauge her for a second. "Take my hand."_

_Hoshi was shocked out of her funk for a moment. "Excuse me?"_

_T'Pol kneeled in front of her, the expression on her face serious as she put her hand out. "My hand."_

_Hoshi stared for a moment before she took the Vulcans hand; it felt warm and soft. "Close your eyes." Doing so she felt T'Pol's fingers lightly trace her palm, "Think of yourself on a turbulent ocean. You have the power to control the waves."_

_Hoshi was feeling far from calmed and her voice rose anxiously. "Whatever you're trying to do, it's not working."_

_T'Pol's voice was soothing as her fingers continued to trace her palm. "Focus; The waves are subsiding. The water is growing still. You are in control."_

_Amazingly, Hoshi felt lighter; she was aware of her emotions but they weren't overwhelming her. They were being held at bay, she was in control." Th-that was amazing."_

_T'Pol nodded. "When we return to the ship I'll teach you how to do it on your own."_

_Hoshi grinned at her, feeling a subtle change in her attitude about the Sub-Commander's aloof personality. "Thanks."_

Repeating the exercise she had learned so long ago she opened her eyes, feeling more in control; she was still feeling guilty, but she controlled the guilt now, not the other way around. Stepping into Sickbay she froze as her resolve was immediately tested; two still forms were covered in stark white sheets.

Noticing the new arrival, one of the nurses hurried over to Hoshi. "Commander, how can I help you?"

It took Hoshi a moment to process his question. "Um..."

The nurse's face registered concern. "Are you alright, Commander?"

She shook her head to help clear it. "Yes...I'm fine, but I need to speak with Dr. Sveck."

"I'm afraid the Doctor is still in surgery with the third alien, is there anything I can help you with?"

"You can tell me what you know about these aliens and their condition."

He nodded. Well when we beamed them aboard it became obvious all three were suffering from severe plasma burns; there were two males and one female. One of the males had burns over approximately eighty percent of his body; unfortunately he expired before we could arrive at sickbay. The second male died shortly after we began to prep him for surgery. The female suffered burns over approximately forty percent of her body and is in surgery with Dr. Sveck currently."

Hoshi shuddered, plasma burns were nasty business; even a tiny amount of the super hot liquid could cause catastrophic damage: it melted skin, muscle and bone. In the early days of warp technology, ruptured plasma conduits were one of the leading causes of casualties among scientist and engineers and even with modern safety devices and redundant systems it was still a highly dangerous substance. "What are her chances of survival?"

The nurse fidgeted. "Well...perhaps you should ask Dr. Sveck about that..."

She cut him off. "I'm asking _you_."

"This is pure speculation you realize... but I'd say maybe sixty-forty."

Hoshi took a small breath of relief; it could've been much worse. "Okay, once Dr. Sveck has stabilized the patient, have him alert me."

"Aye, ma'am," He responded hastily before scurrying off. Her communicator chirped and she flipped it open. "Sato here."

LaForge's voice issued from the communicator. "Hey Hoshi, if you're not busy could you swing by the shuttle bay? We found some really interesting stuff."

"I'm on my way. Sato out."

She stepped out of sickbay and took the turbolift down one level before making the long trek to the shuttle bay. Stepping inside the launch bay she headed over to the large bald man who was giving out orders and tapped him on the shoulder.

He turned around a broad smile on his face. "Hey, I didn't think you'd be here so fast."

"I was up in sickbay." she said by way of explanation. "What have you got for me Senford?"

Senford LaForge was the first member of the senior staff beside T'Pol that she had met, he was easy going and Hoshi rather liked him despite not working with him very often. Captain Hunter had initially wanted him as the second officer, but LaForge had not wanted the position; he was more interested in engineering than in command. Instead he had pointed out to the captain that someone else was more qualified for the job in terms of command experience; that person was Hoshi. So Hunter, after agreeing with LaForge's assessment, had awarded Hoshi the position, and a promotion to Lieutenant Commander. Since then, they had become something of fast friends and had adopted an informal manner when interacting with each other.

"Well you're going to like this one Hoshi; fortunately for us, their escape pods are equipped with a copy of their database." He turned on a data pad and handed it to her. "That's a copy of what we managed to download, a lot of the database is encrypted and we're trying to break it, but no luck so far. As you can see, their species is called the Su-Nian and the name of the ship we saw was called _Tonfar's Pride_. We also found out that they are technologically more advanced than the Federation, their ships can break warp 8.4 and use nadion based weapons. As for the status of the pod; it's fine, only a few scratches and dents on her, but otherwise in fine working order." He rounded off.

"Good work Senford, keep me updated on the progress of the database."

He smiled cheekily "You got it 'Captain Sato'".

She just shook her head in amusement and left engineering, while LaForge chuckled behind her. Half way back too the turbolift her communicator chirped again.

She flipped it open and said in a tired voice, "Sato here."

"Captain Hunter wishes to speak to you, Commander." said Ensign Cooke

"Of course he does." she mumbled irritably

"I'm sorry ma'am?"

Hoshi shook her head, and then remembered Cooke couldn't see her. "Never mind, patch him into the ready room and tell him I'll on my way."

_9:00 pm, May 16th, 2166_

A few minutes later, Hoshi was sealing the ready room door for the second time today before she settled into Hunter's chair and turned on the blinking terminal.

Hunter was dressed in his formal uniform, and looked as tired as Hoshi felt. "Captain, it's good to see you. How are the negotiations going?"

He shook his head "Nowhere fast. Neither of the teams can come to a consensus about anything, from the materials that should be used, or whether Starfleet should pick up the tab for having their equipment shipped out here. It's been one giant nightmare, at the rate their going we'll be here for three months minimum. But that's not why I called; I wanted to find out how things are going on _Enterprise_."

Hoshi sincerely hoped he was exaggerating on the three month timeline. Shaking that unpleasant thought from her head she told him what had happened that day...well most of it anyway.

When she finished, he narrowed his eyes and looked thoughtful, "Hmm, Nausicaan's have no business being anywhere near The Neutral Zone. I don't like the way this smells Hoshi, keep an eye out for any suspicious activity, and don't hesitate to call if you find something. In the meantime I'm going to try and find out if anybody knows anything on this end. Onto the other point, I've never heard of the Su-Nian before, I'm sure between you and Senford, you'll have the data base cracked in no time, try to find out what you can from our guest when she's sufficiently recovered. I'll be in contact same time tomorrow, oh and by the way...you're doing a great job Hoshi, keep up the good work."

"Thank you, sir."

"Hunter out."

Hoshi shut down the terminal feeling depressed. If only she could talk to T'Pol, her _t'hy'la_ was a source of reasoning, comfort, and companionship; she felt no shame in admitting she missed her. It sounded like she would have to get used to it for the foreseeable future if the captain's prediction of a three month timeline proved accurate, she knew sometimes duty interfered with one's personal life, but she didn't have to like it

.

Sighing in resignation of having to spend the night alone, Hoshi turned over command of the bridge and went to her quarters. She quickly stripped out of her uniform and got into a pair of soft flannel pajamas. Deciding to have some water before bed, she headed to the small beverage dispenser and filled a glass with the cold beverage. It was then that she noticed her personal terminal was flashing, indicating she had a message. She debated if she should view it tonight or just wait until the morning; ultimately she decided she'd see what was in the message; if it was critical she'd deal with it now otherwise it'd have to wait until tomorrow. Turning on the unit she was surprised to see the message had come from T'Pol, according to the timestamp it had been recorded while Hunter had been talking to her. Eagerly she opened the message.

_Hoshi, I hope this message reaches you in fine spirits. Since we were unable to meet today for our customary meal, I decided to record this message so you could be kept current with what is going on_ _outside the ship as well as allowing me the opportunity to organize my thoughts. The progress made today was negligible at best, despite a logical approach on my behalf and Captain Hunter's negotiating skills, neither side had budged on any of their demands. The captain believes this is because they know that we need their specialties in order to complete this project and due to that knowledge they are 'holding us hostage.' After fourteen hours of dealing with the heads of the various construction teams, I believe I now understand what you meant when you said 'stubborn as a mule' and 'denser than a black hole.' _Hoshi snorted at that last part, those were phrases her mother used that she had taken to using during the last few years.

The transmission continued. _Despite the lack of progress, I believe we can reasonably accomplish our goals in a time frame of one to three weeks. _T'Pol paused for a moment and seemed to gather herself before continuing._ I hope that you find commanding Enterprise both challenging and rewarding. Despite my confidence in your abilities, you are sometimes prone to self doubt, and I wish to alleviate you of this. If you do experience doubt remember that logically you wouldn't have been chosen to command if Captain Hunter didn't have faith in your abilities to keep his vessel safe. I too believe that you will command Enterprise with the competence and dedication to duty you have always exhibited. Finally I wish to tell you, I am thinking of you fondly and am looking forward to returning to Enterprise. Good night and pleasant dreams, T'hy'la._

The screen went black, leaving Hoshi with warmth that spread through her entire body. Even though T'Pol was not here, it felt good to know her _t'hy'la _was thinking of her and had confidence in her abilities, it was almost like T'Pol knew exactly what she had needed to hear.

_Maybe she did hear me, _She thought to herself. And seeing as Vulcans were a telepathic species, Hoshi supposed it wasn't outside the realm of possibility that she might have transmitted her sub-conscious worries onto T'Pol. She frowned to herself; thinking she would have to ask her mate about Vulcan telepathy next time she saw her. Moving into the bedroom, Hoshi got into the bed and curled up with one of the pillows, it was a poor substitute for having the warm body of T'Pol next to her, but for now it would have to do.

_2:20 pm May 18th, 2166_

In the modular asteroid base, Captain Hunter and Commander T'Pol were saying negotiations were wrapping up, much to the surprise of the _Enterprise _crewmates, and in Hunter's case relief. It seemed that two days locked in a small temporary construct was enough to finally get both parties to concede. So they struck a deal that everyone could at least live with. Hunter was shaking hands with the various leaders of the construction teams when the building shook violently.

Without thinking Hunter shot a glance at T'Pol and snapped "Report." He realized his mistake a second later. "Sorry Commander, force of habit."

T'Pol nodded and quickly glanced about the room trying to gauge their options. There was no computer or scanning equipment and the base had minimal defense. The best they had was a subspace relay to contact _Enterprise._ The building shook and something seemed off to T'Pol but before she could discover what it was Hunter was yelling.

"Commander, contact _Enterprise, _we're under attack!"

The Vulcan moved quickly and tried to raise _Enterprise. ---_

Ensign Cooke looked up in shock, "Commander Sato we're getting a distress call from the asteroid where the negations are taking place."

Hoshi who had been examining a data pad felt adrenaline and fear shoot through her, "What's going on?"

Ensign Cooke's voice was frightened, "Commander T'Pol reports that the base is under attack from unknown assailants.

"Set a course for them, maximum warp." She snapped, gripping the command chair in a death hold.

Ensign Jacobs quickly complied, and the sound of thewarp engines coming online could be heard. Jacobs chanced a quick glance at her friend before adding "ETA is four minutes ma'am."

"Mr. Khan, I need to know what's attacking that base _now_." Hoshi tersely stated.

To his credit Khan was already working on it, "I'm reading four Nausicaan cruisers Commander."

At that pronouncement, the atmosphere on the bridge tensed; there was no way a modular base could stand up against four Nausicaan cruisers and they all knew it.

_We're not going to make it, _Hoshi thought to herself in despair. Despite her inner turmoil, she gave out the orders expected by her. "Ensign Cooke, hail the ships and tell them to break off their attack, to continue attacking the base is an act of war against the Federation."

Cooke looked up from her console in despair, "No response, ma'am they hear us, they just aren't answering."

Hoshi nodded, not really expecting anything diffrent. "Mr. Khan, go to Red Alert, charge phase cannons and raise shields." As the bridge was washed in crimson light, Hoshi thought it seemed ironic that she would be the one taking _Enterprise_ through her first battle, to save it's captain and first officer no less.

"Dropping out of warp in five seconds," Reported Jacobs.

After what seemed like an eternity to everyone on the bridge, _Enterprise_ returned to normal space, immediately the ship was rocked by four sets of Nausicaan disruptors. It all seemed too coordinated, and the more she thought about it the less it made sense, why were four cruisers needed to take out a single unarmed base when one could easily do it? There was only one reason: the base wasn't the target, _Enterprise _was.

It had been a trap.

"Shields down to seventy three percent." reported Khan tightly.

"Return fire."

_Enterprise _was rocked again and Hoshi nearly fell out her seat. "Helm, begin evasive maneuvers."

A console next to Lieutenant Tanner erupted in sparks due to a power surge, and she barely avoided getting hit by the deadly shower.

"Ensign Cooke, contact the base and tell them to begin evacuating while the Nausicaan's are attacking us. Mr. Khan, load the torpedo bays and fire at will."

A brilliant red beam lanced from the port phase cannon scoring a devastating hit on a cruiser; a moment later a photon torpedo hit the same spot, taking the cruiser out of the fight. But before any celebrations could be had, _Enterprise _shook again, harder this time.

"Shields down to forty percent," Khan yelled over the din as he managed to disable another ship.

"Hull breach on decks eight, nine and ten," Called Tanner

"Engage emergency bulkheads and seal off the affected areas. Laura can you do something about those cruisers?" Hoshi shouted.

"Everyone might want to grab onto something," Warned Jacobs as she saw the two remaining cruisers swinging around to attack their port and starboard flanks at the same time. She stopped _Enterprise _dead,making it look as if her engines had stalled, then she began gathering every bit of power she could going so far to take power from the turbolift and water reclamation system. At the last moment before the ships were on top of them she fired off the engines, maxing them out so quickly the inertial dampeners couldn't compensate and everyone was thrown back by the resulting acceleration. The two ships had fired at _Enterprise _only for it to be gone, unfortunately for them they had been aiming at the same spot on either side of the hull and with nothing to stop them the torpedoes hit the opposing ship, destroying both in a huge blaze of fire and antimatter.

Hoshi clawed her way back into the command chair. "Stand down Red Alert. That was a hell of a trick Laura, good job."

"Well, you asked me to do something Hosh…Commander, in case you're wondering I call that the 'Jacobs Maneuver,'" She said proudly.

Hoshi smiled and addressed the bridge as a whole, "Good job everyone. What do you say we go bring our crewmates home?"

_5:42 pm, May 16th, 2166_

Captain Hunter sat behind the desk in his ready room feeling a mixture of happiness and shock; happiness at being back aboard his ship, and shock at what had transpired in the two days he had been gone. "The question is why the Nausicaans were trying to attack us in the first place," He said after Hoshi had finished talking.

"When Lieutenant Khan returns perhaps we will have an answer," T'Pol proposed, referring to the fact that Khan and a security team were currently rounding up the Nausicaan's from the ships they had disabled.

Hunter's voice was low and menacing "Believe me Commander; I plan on getting an answer." Hoshi shuddered at that tone, not liking what it entailed one bit.

"On another note, I'd like to say you did an exemplary job, Hoshi and I'll be placing a commendation in your file."

"Thank you, sir." she said flushing furiously

.

He waved her off. "Not a problem, now if you'll excuse me, I need to see Dr. Sveck about our guest. You two are dismissed."

Hoshi and T'Pol left the room, no doubt to do some catching up of their own, leaving Hunter to ponder the situation alone. Why were the Nausicaans suddenly swarming about the Neutral Zone and why had they attacked Enterprise? The Nausicaan's weren't part of the Federation and although they didn't like Starfleet they would generally give their ships a wide berth, fearing their superior firepower. Since their species was nomadic they had no central governing body, so was this just a case of a pack of Nausicaan's getting greedy and thinking they could steal a Starfleet ship? He knew it was useless to speculate, he would just have to hope he could get some answers out of the Nausicaan's Lieutenant Khan was rounding up. In the meantime he had to go see the Su-Nian in sickbay; maybe she could provide some answers.

A few minutes later, he stepped into Sickbay, and was greeted by his eccentric CMO, Dr. Sveck was of Russian decent, although he had been born and raised in America he was quirky and had a habit of muttering to himself while around other people. However there was no denying the man was a genius, he had acquired his first of fifteen PHDs when he was seventeen and had a well published career.

Now in his early fifties, he was one of the most respected doctors in the Federation, and Hunter had figured any oddities Sveck had were a worthy tradeoff for his sheer genius. For instance he had joined Starfleet to "broaden his horizons," but had refused to go through any of Starfleet's training other than a basic knowledge of procedure. He had claimed he was there "To be a doctor, not a soldier." If anyone else had tried to pull that kind of stunt everyone knew Starfleet would have thrown them out on their ear, but the bigwigs in charge couldn't resist the coup of having the famous Dr. Sveck onboard so they had caved and he was hired on as a civilian 'consultant.'

"Hello, Captain Hunter, are you in need of medical assistance?" His gray eyes were eagerly bulging.

Hunter held up a hand to hold off the older man. "No Doctor, I need to speak with our Su-Nian friend."

Sveck looked shocked. "Y-You can't! Her body is recovering from a very traumatic experience; she had plasma burns over forty percent of her body. I really must insist against this Captain."

"Is there any medical risk in waking her up Doctor?" Hunter asked plainly.

The older man looked thoughtful. "Well...she would be in quite a bit of pain; her skin is still growing back."

Hunter sighed. "Can you give her something for the pain? This is important, Doctor otherwise I wouldn't be asking."

Sveck wavered for a moment before relenting. "Very well, however keep it short; no longer than ten minutes."

"Thank you." said Hunter.

Sveck bustled about for a minute before he came back with a hypospray and two vials; he emptied one and replaced it before emptying the other, then he stepped back. On the bio bed, the petite Su-Nian stirred for a minute before her eyes shot open and she look around wildly. Hunter quickly stepped into her line of view and her eyes which were a brilliant gold locked onto him, she tried to sit up but the restraints on the bed were preventing her from doing so.

"_Z'yan kan," _ she yelled trying to sit up again

Hunter flipped open a Universal Translator, "Please relax, we're not an enemy." Since the U.T. had been used to translate part of the Su-Nian database their language was already in it so it didn't take long before it was translating properly.

"I said release me!"

Hunter tried to establish a dialogue, "Can you understand me?"

"Release me!" She yelled louder trying to trash about.

Hunter didn't want her to hurt himself so he interjected his command voice into his next statement. "Stop it!"

The Su-Nian stopped trashing as if she had been struck. Satisfied, Hunter returned to his normal speaking voice. "Thank you, can you understand me?"

The woman's eyes remained warily locked onto Hunters, slowly never once breaking contact she nodded once.

Hunter felt relieved that the U.T. was working. "Good, I am Captain Jackson Hunter and you're in the sickbay on my vessel _Enterprise_. You don't have to worry you're not among enemies, can you tell me your name?"

The woman seemed gauge Hunter for a few minutes before she spoke again. "Release me first, Captain Jackson Hunter if you are truly not my enemy."

"You can just call me Captain Hunter, unfortunately I can't release you because you suffered from extensive plasma burns and you're flesh is still regenerating. My crew rescued you and your companions from an escape pod."

Her expression softened "My name is Sarnovia Lyatna, thank you for providing my crewmates and I with aid, may I please speak with them?"

Hunter had hoped that this part of the discussion would come up later after he had gained some information, but it didn't look like that was going to happen. "I'm sorry to tell you that you were the only survivor Sarnovia, your companion's wounds were too extensive for us to help them."

Her golden eyes closed in pain and her hair, which was a vibrant red dulled noticeably. "You didn't rescue the others?"

"No, the Nausicaan's destroyed all the other pods. I'm sorry." He felt an unsettling prickly sensation of guilt in his gut; he knew even though he would have done the same thing Hoshi did while she was in command, he wished he could have done something diffrerent, if only to alleviate this woman of her pain.

"I'm sure you have questions, Captain Hunter, and I'll try to answer them but I'd like some time alone first." Her hair continued to dull and she looked at him with unshed tears in her eyes. Hunter felt the woman's pain acutely and understood now wasn't the time to interrogate her.

"Of course Ms. Lyatna, I'll come back tomorrow. Try and get some rest, and for what it's worth I truly sorry for your loss." He placed a hand on her shoulder without thinking; it was just a natural reaction despite his Starfleet training telling him otherwise. Some species didn't enjoy being touched or found it offensive.

Fortunately Sarnovia didn't seem to mind and in fact gave Hunter a small watery smile. "Thank you, Captain Hunter."

Hunter nodded, and returned her smile and turned to leave as Dr. Sveck swooped in to check on his patient. Outside in the hallway Hunter realized he still had a smile on his face; he quickly wiped it off and headed to the brig to meet Lieutenant Khan.

_9:45 am, May 17th, 2166_

T'Pol sat tightly at the conference table with the rest of the senior staff minus Captain Hunter, her hands folded in front of her. Despite the impassive manner she always maintained she was exhausted; upon arriving at her quarters last night, Hoshi had practically tackled her and after several strenuous hours of love making, they had dined. After dinner Hoshi had told her about what it had been like commanding the ship and her guilt at not being able to help the Su-Nian vessel. She had assured Hoshi that had the positions been reversed she would have done the same thing, and to beat herself up was illogical, instead she should find a way to channel her emotions into a useful endeavor. Hoshi had agreed and decided to accompany her for a joint meditation, an experience T'Pol always enjoyed, although if asked she'd deny it to the hilt. Afterwards Hoshi had evidently felt recharged, for she had dragged T'Pol back to bed and they had made love for several more hours.

By the time they were through they had only managed to net two hours of sleep, the amazing thing was Hoshi was still as chipper and alert as she ever was whereas T'Pol's supposedly superior endurance had failed her, and she was barely managing to stay Hoshi stored so much energy in her compact frame was a mystery that to T'Pol that seemed to violate the laws of physics.

The door to the conference room slid back and Captain Hunter strolled in with a data pad in his hand, setting it down he took his seat at the head of the table.

As usual he didn't waste anytime with small talk, "As you are all aware Lieutenant Khan detained several Nausicaans yesterday. What you don't know is that he and I questioned them about their actions, unfortunately our scanners didn't pick up that they were all implanted with a neural transmitter that liquefied their brains if they were out of range from a receiver for a prescribed amount of time." There was a collective gasp around the table.

"So unfortunately we have no witnesses and no evidence as the transmitter liquefies after it accomplishes its goal but we did manage to recover a receiver from one of the Nausicaan cruisers. Commander LaForge ran an analysis on the composite materials of the receiver and found a match in our database. The receiver's are Romulan."

Pausing for a moment he hit a few buttons on the data pad and directed everyone's attention to the view screen on the right wall. "As you can imagine I immediately contacted Starfleet Command about our findings...this was the response I received." On the view screen was a very official looking document appeared.

"I'll spare you the gobbledygook HQ used, but it basically says that the Nausicaans could have acquired the technology anywhere, and the Romulan connection is a mere coincidence, and we are to continue on our mission and mind our own business."

The tension in the room was thick and everyone could tell something big was about to happen, "However Lieutenant Khan and I both believe that the Nausicaan's were hired as mercenary's by the Romulans and were fitted with transceivers in the event that they failed their mission or were detained by Starfleet. My suspicions were also confirmed this morning by our guest Sarnovia Lyatna; she told me that the Romulans have been discouraging her people from crossing the Neutral Zone for years, with tales of the barbaric races on the other side, however the Su-Nians evidently decided to find out for themselves and the Romulans, possibly fearing another powerful planet allying themselves with the Federation decided to prevent that from happening."

Ensign Jacobs spoke up, a confused expression on her face. "So the Romulans hired the Nausicaans to stop the Su-Nian from possibly establishing ties with the Federation, that kind of makes sense. But why would they hire them to attack the outposts and _Enterprise_?"

T'Pol answered her. "The Romulans are a traditionally paranoid species, they most likely saw the construction of the outposts for what they were; a way Starfleet could monitor the activity inside the Neutral Zone and a place weapons could be stockpiled in the event the Romulans decided to attack again. To destroy the outposts and the flagship in a single stroke would be a massive victory in their eyes, and would have the added benefits of: one, diverting attention to the Nausicaans and two, discouraging the building the outposts in this site due to Nausicaan interference."

Hunter nodded his approval, "Well put Commander, that's exactly what we were thinking. But until we can gain some solid evidence, Starfleet is willing to sweep this incident under the rug. I believe that is a mistake and will be in contact with Admiral Black tomorrow to try and get the decision overturned, meanwhile in our absence several private security firms will be providing defensive support for the outposts." He didn't sound particularly happy about _that_ development. "Our mission parameters have also been updated, we are now to deliver Ms. Lyatna to her home world for the dual purpose of reporting the destruction of her ship and to possibly establish diplomatic ties with her people. The Su-Nian home world is three months from our present location, seeing as we have to find an alternative route around the Neutral Zone so we'll begin our journey in three days, after the repairs are finished; Dismissed."

The senior staff filed out to go help the repair teams, meanwhile Hunter left and headed down to sickbay with Dr. Sveck. They stepped through the double doors and were greeted by Sarnovia Lyatna. "Dr. Sveck, Captain Hunter how are you doing?"

Hunter sized her up, noticing she looked well rested and seemed to be in a good mood. On her bedside was a small Universal Translator that Hoshi had programmed; it only recognized English and Su-Nian but the reduction of memory made it much more portable and it could attach to her clothes via static cling.

Hunter kept his face blank despite a smile that seemed to want to break out. "I'm well Ms. Lyatna, Doctor Sveck is ready to release you from sickbay and I've come to talk to you about-"

Sarnovia's hair had darkened noticeably; an ability Sveck had found out was connected to her emotional state and was fairly rare among Su-Nian according to Sarnovia, and her face closed off as she interrupted Hunter. "I understand Captain; I didn't expect to be able to stay aboard your ship. Thank you for the aid you have provided me, I only ask you extend your generosity and provide me with a few provisions to stock the escape pod."

Hunter stood shocked for a moment. "No, you misunderstand me; I wasn't going to say you had to leave."

"You weren't?" She asked with a note of hope in her voice.

Hunter shook his head, "No, in fact my superiors and I have agreed it would be best if you stayed onboard and _Enterprise_ escorted you to your home world. That is if you are willing of course."

Sarnovia's expression went from hopeful to anger. "What payment do you require? If you expect me to bed you for-"

Hunter's eyes went wide and he waved his hands in the air eagerly. "No, nothing like that, one of the credos of Starfleet is to provide aid and relief whenever we can, we don't expect anything in return. As I said earlier, you can leave if you would prefer that."

She eyed him before her expression abruptly became embarrassed and her hair flared bright red. "I'm sorry Captain Hunter, you have been an honorable and gracious host and I repay your kindness with suspicions and accusations. I'm not used to receiving things without a price tag attached, please accept my sincerest apology."

Hunter didn't like that Sarnovia jumped to...that conclusion; he decided this would take some further looking into. "Don't worry about it Ms. Lyatna, would you like to stay onboard _Enterprise_?"

Sarnovia couldn't seem to look him in the face. "Yes, please."

"Good, we're glad to have you." He handed her a data pad. "Your quarters are listed on there as well as a list of places you can and can't go onboard. If you require clothing just ask the ship tailor for whatever you need, and if you need help with anything don't hesitate to call." He laid a communicator next to the data pad.

"Thank you." she said quietly.

"Not a problem." he said over his retreating shoulder. Deciding he should have done it in the first place, Hunter headed to his ready room to learn more about the Su-Nian people and hopefully find an answer as to why Sarnovia had expected that she'd have to sleep with him.

_8:00 pm, May 19th, 2166_

T'Pol and Hoshi entered into the mess hall together, where a huge party was currently getting started. Yesterday Captain Hunter had announced that thanks to the repairs, finishing the repair's a day earlier than expected the party that had been previously postponed was back on and all the crew were expected to attend , much to T'Pol's chagrin. Hoshi, upon hearing the good news, practically levitated off the floor in happiness, the clothes she had purchased for herself and T'Pol several weeks ago would be put to good use.

Upon their entrance, a ripple like effect happened as people turned to see the sharply dressed couple; Hoshi was wearing her hair up in a bun and clad in a full length violet dress that showed a fair amount of cleavage, it was made out of velvet like material and had a slit up the side. T'Pol while dressed more conservatively still cut a striking figure in a handsome pair of black robes with ornate gold trimmings that ran from the front, across the back, down the side and around the feet, they weren't tight but they did manage to show off the Vulcan's figure.

A few whistle's and catcalls rang out, the loudest of which came from Senford LaForge, Hoshi flushed under the attention but T'Pol merely looked dignified and strolled through the crowd as if it wasn't there.

They stopped at the makeshift bar,and placed orders for their drinks; wine for Hoshi and water for T'Pol. While they were waiting Hunter appeared at the bar and placed an order for a rum and coke, Hoshi turned and smiled at him. "Hello Captain."

Hunter returned the smile "Hi Hoshi, hello T'Pol, are you both enjoying the party?"

T'Pol handed Hoshi her drink and inclined her head at Hunter. "Yes... it seems my reluctance at coming was misplaced."

Hoshi smiled again. "Yeah it's great and it's nice to see everyone letting their hair down." He paused for a moment. "Have you two seen Sarnovia?"

Hoshi answered for both of them "No, were you expecting her?"

"Well I invited her and told her it would be a good opportunity to learn more about us and maybe get to relax a little, I guess she decided not to come, although with all she's have been through I can't really blame her," He said, sounding slightly disappointed as he sipped his drink.

He took a moment to look around him and saw Laura Jacobs was deeply involved in a conversation with Senford LaForge, who had his usual grin on his face. Dr. Sveck was at the buffet table, filling his plate high with what looked like cabbage and Thebeus Khan was conversing seriously with a female crewman whose name Hunter couldn't recall at the moment; it seemed everyone was enjoying themselves.

Meanwhile, the music had changed to a slow jazzy tune and Hoshi looked wistfully at the dance floor, she was surprised a moment later when T'Pol took her hand.

T'Pol's hazel eyes locked onto Hoshi's brown ones. "Would you like to dance Hoshi?"

"What? Oh T'Pol you don't have to..." Hoshi said automatically

"I know, I wish to dance with you this evening _ashal-veh, _please do me the honor."

Hoshi flushed when she heard the word _ashal-veh_ which translated to darling; for T'Pol to say that publicly was quite a statement in of itself...even if Hoshi was the only one who knew what it meant. "Alright, it would be my pleasure."

Hunter, who had been observing them discreetly could've sworn he saw T'Pol smile before they went out onto the dance floor. He watched them sway across the floor in amazement; as it turned out T'Pol was quite coordinated and an excellent dancer and he wasn't the only one watching the Vulcan science officer in shock.

In fact he was so glued to the spectacle he didn't hear his name being called several times, the tap on the shoulder however got his attention. Turning around he saw Sarnovia in a pair of Starfleet issued coveralls and a matching tunic; quickly he swallowed the remainder of his drink. "Ms. Lyatna. I'm glad to see you decided to join us."

"Thank you for inviting me, Captain." She replied shyly

During the past few days, Hunter had scoured the Su-Nian database for anything that would indicate why Sarnovia would believe he would expect her to sleep with him for passage; he hadn't liked what he saw. It seemed in Su-Nian society woman and men were treated equally except in one regard; space travel. Su-Nian vessels were almost exclusively male with only one female being onboard for...some less than savory purposes. It seemed Sarnovia was the exception to this, having been the first female ever onboard a Su-Nian vessel in a position of authority as the ship's senior most engineer. It would stand to reason that she had probably had to work harder her whole life to obtain such a position and probably used to the men onboard _Tonfar's Pride_ treating her like she was a second class officer. And so she had expected Hunter to do so as well, which had explained her reaction.

"Don't mention it, I've read about your culture and find it... interesting; I thought you might enjoy a similar opportunity. Would you like something to drink?"

She looked thoughtful. "What are you having?"

"Rum and coke, but we have dozens of...

"

She cut him off. "I'll have one as well."

Hunter signaled over a ships steward and asked for two more drinks and then turned back to Sarnovia who was observing the crew with undisguised fascination. "I have never seen so many females on a vessel before."

"We have fifty-two women onboard _Enterprise_, so that would make forty seven percent of the crew female. Starfleet believes in maintaining diverse crews with a mix of male, female and hopefully one day Terran and non-Terran people. In fact, my first officer is both female and non Terran, that's her dancing with her mate over there. Speaking of which, her mate is my second officer and was in command of _Enterprise_ when it rescued your escape pod." He finished and pointed out the couple on the dance floor.

"My people could learn a thing or two from yours, Captain Hunter." Her gold eyes narrowed and her hair brightened. "To have a woman in such a position of power would be unthinkable on my planet. Onboard _Tonfar's Pride_ I was sixth in command, which put me above the highest ranked cadet. Normally a position such as mine would be forth or third in the command chain, but my gender prohibited me from advancing."

Hunter took their drinks from the returning steward and handed Sarnovia hers before continuing. "My people weren't always so enlightened Ms. Lyatna, in fact a little over two hundred years ago it would have been nearly impossible for a woman or a person of my skin color to hold a position of power anywhere, but over time we learned not to discriminate based on a persons gender, race or orientation. It took awhile but we got there eventually, I'm sure your people will as well."

Sarnovia took a sip and nodded in apparent satisfaction before taking another. "What was the catalyst for change on your planet Captain; you'll forgive my cynicism but I don't believe people spontaneously change long held behaviors."

"Oh, it wasn't spontaneous. It took over twenty years of war, 600 million or so lives, several nuclear winters and contact with an alien species before my people decided there were more important things in life than a person's skin color, gender or sexual preference. Hopefully your planet isn't as hard headed as mine and it won't take something as catastrophic before your people decide to change." he said taking a swallow of his drink.

"I'm afraid it will take just as much if not more Captain." She said darkly before falling silent and occasionally taking a sip of her drink.

"Do you dance Captain?" she asked after several minutes

.

"Huh?" asked Hunter who had been in deep thought.

"I asked do you dance."

Hunter face felt hot and he sputtered out an answer. "Uh...Well…not very often...not many opportunities...you see."

Sarnovia looked up at him. "Well then you shouldn't waste them when they come along right?"

Her eyes were wide and full of something Hunter couldn't make out and her hair was nearly luminous. "Err..."

"Would you like to dance Captain?"

Something about this small alien woman was throwing him off his game; for someone who liked being in control it was distinctly unnerving. "Um...okay, if you want to."

They went out on the dance floor and began to dance to the slow music playing. Gradually they relaxed and held each other closer, sinking into the music. Unknown to either they were being watched.

"I think she likes him." said Hoshi

"I believe they like each other." corrected T'Pol

Hoshi made a face. "Her and the Captain? No way."

T'Pol shrugged as if it didn't matter. "Stranger pairings have happened, you and I for example."

"Yeah I guess you're- Hey what's that supposed to mean?" asked Hoshi indignantly.

"What it sounded like." T'Pol deadpanned.

Hoshi's voice lowered. "You know what? You must be spending too much time around Humans, because I could have sworn that was a joke."

"You are mistaken."

Hoshi rolled her eyes. "Wow, two in a row, someone pinch me I must be dreaming. Ouch! What was that for?"

"You asked to be pinched."

"No one likes a wiseass, T'Pol."

"Indeed."

Hoshi lowered her voice again. "Come on; let's go to my quarter's miss-I-suddenly-have-a-sense-of-humor. I may not make you laugh tonight but I do want to make you moan...a lot."

T'Pol's eyebrow rose in interest and she followed Hoshi out of the mess hall, looking forward to what the rest of the night held; and to think she used to believe humor served no purpose.

**The End**

**That's all for this one folks, as you're reading this I'm already hunkered down writing the third part for the series, so expect it in 5-8 weeks depending on how much time I can dedicate to writing, or you can subscribe to me so you'll know whenever I drop a new story. I hope you all enjoyed it and if it's not to much trouble drop me a comment or p.m. and let me know what you thought or if you have any suggestion's on what you'd like to see or what I can improve, I'd love to hear from you. Thanks for reading.**


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